


Let's meet over coffee

by ImDaisyTbh



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson - Freeform, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Jump City, Secret Identity, roy and dick are roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26338450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImDaisyTbh/pseuds/ImDaisyTbh
Summary: The Titans split up and now Dick is sharing an apartment with Roy in Jump. In order to pay the rent he starts working in a small café, called Amy's. Slade just wanted some coffee.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52





	1. Got you

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Hi everyone!! I'm ImDaisyTbh, kinda new here and this is my first story, I don't know where I'm going with this or if I'll continue, so please review and let me know what you think. ENJOY
> 
> Disclaimer: Also, I don't own

Dick heard the bell above the door and felt the light breeze of morning air before it closed again.

He smiled as the customer walked up to him. ”Good morning, welcome to Amy’s! What can I get you?” 

”Hi, I’d like an espresso to go, thank you” The customer said kindly as he put his bag down. 

”Coming right up!” Turning around he prepared the coffee. He had been working here for two months now and was quick and efficient in his work, every step well practiced and familiar.

After scribbling a smiley and ”have a nice day!” on the side of the cup, he turned back to the counter.

”That will be three dollars, sir” He said, placing the cup on the counter.

He’d only been in Starling for a couple of moths but he’d decided he liked it. After the Titans split up he didn’t know where to go or what to do. He could go back to Gotham, but that would mean dealing with Bruce, and that was something he hadn’t done in over three years now. He missed the man and wished they were on better terms, but he felt like it was just not meant to be. Bruce could never have a normal conversation without turning it into some sort of life lesson and it got old, real fast. He was always so serious and Dick was sure that by this point, Bruce was the disguise, not Batman. 

So Gotham had not been an option. He had considered Blüdhaven since it was close to Gotham (he figured he could sneak by the Manor and talk with Alfred, maybe eat a few cookies) but that city was severely corrupt and he wasn’t sure he could handle the stress of trying to fix it. Instead, he had moved into an apartment in Jump with Roy. He, just like Dick, wasn’t on great terms with his previous mentor. Now they were both working at least two day jobs each to pay the rent. It was kind of ironic that the wards of two billionaires worked several jobs just to pay the rent and live a decent life, but it had to be done as neither of them would ever ask for money. They loved being independent and would do anything they could to keep it that way. 

He was Richard Grayson almost full time now, except a couple of nights a week when he and Roy would go out on patrol. Being his civilian Id wasn’t hard, here in Jump no one knew who he was. 

With Titans he had been fighting crime during the day but he much preferred the dark, if he was being honest. Roy agreed and that’s why they would spend the night’s (as often as they could) patrolling, rather than going out at day.

”It’s ten o’clock, my turn at the counter.” Amy said as she came through the door to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. Amy was the owner of the shop and he was the only worker there besides himself.

”Oh, right.” He left the counter, making his way to the kitchen, rolling up his sleeves to get to work. It was a small cafe but they sold bread, small cookies, some salads and of course, coffee. He rinsed vegetables and pulled out a cutting board. A business company across the street had lunch at 12 o’clock and some of the workers were regulars, so he and Amy always made sure to have freshly made bread and salads ready for lunch time. 

He had just finished the last salad when he heard the bell over the door pling, telling him there was another customer. He put the dirty knives, bowls and cutting board in the sink and started washing them, idly listening to Amy chat with the customer. 

”Hello Sam! The usual?” Amy asked and he could imagine her smiling. 

”Yes, please” he could hear Sam chuckle. He was one of their regulars and he was always fun to chat with. Then he heard another voice which slightly confused him. Sam usually came alone and was joined later by some of his colleagues, but today it seemed he had brought someone with him.

”And what would you like, sir?” He heard Amy ask.

”I haven’t been here before, so why don’t you surprise me.” The voice clearly belonged to a grown man but it was hard to imagine what he might look like.

Nodding, Amy said ”With pleasure! Meanwhile, please take a seat, we’ll have your food ready in a minute.”

With that she walked into the kitchen. 

”The gentleman wanted a surprise order, so I was thinking the olive salad, what do you think?”

The olive salad was a loved classic at Amy’s. 

”Might as well get him hooked from the beginning huh?” Dick laughed.

”You know it!” She joked back. ”I have their coffees ready, so you can bring out the salad and Sam’s usual as soon as you’re done.” With that she walked out again.

After making sure he had the right orders, he put the two plates on a tray and walked out of the kitchen to Sam and his friend.

\- - -

Slade had a contract in the city outskirts. Getting an apartment nearby and getting himself a position at a small company was easy. Now all he had to do was lay low for a while before striking. The job and apartment was technically not necessary but the liked to go the extra mile. Besides, he had the chance to thoroughly meet people and hear gossip, which had proven useful in the past. He was currently sitting in a meeting room, full of people in suits, listening to a woman talk about statistics and profit. He didn’t really pay the meeting any attention and his thoughts drifted.

He would never admit it out loud, but it was boring. The contracts he got was well paid, but always an easy kill. There were no challenges, no action, no thrill. Ever since the Titans split up, Slade had been.. bored. They had been a part of his everyday life for almost three years and he had spent a great deal of time messing with them. It was entertaining. The teens fought back, they improved, sometimes even posed a challenge. Especially Robin.

Slade mentally sighed when he thought of the boy. He had so much potential, if only he’d allow Slade to teach him. He realized that his methods had been .. rough, maybe even wrong, but he didn’t know any other way to get through to the boy. 

Robin didn’t have superpowers and that made him all the more impressive. He relied on his experience, instinct and intellectual. But most of all he relied on his friends, his team. He was a great team player and a natural leader. 

Slade didn’t know where the boy was now, but he was sure he had surrounded himself with friends. After all, he seemed valued friends above all else and was a very social creature. 

Enough about the boy. Slade hadn’t heard of or seen him for a couple of months and he was probably not even in Jump anymore. He was probably laying low in his civilian id for a while, maybe taking a break. The business woman had said something and was looking at him, so he smiled and nodded, hoping he hadn’t been asked a question. He scolded himself for being so distracted, he had a job to focus on. His boring, unexciting job.

It was 12 AM when the meeting finished and they had lunch. Walking out of the conference room Slade headed for the elevator. The doors were just about to shut when he heard someone call ”Hold it!”, and he did. 

A man in his 30’s joined him in the elevator, slightly panting from running. He turned to look at Slade, slightly panting ”Thank you”. Taking a closer look, the man smiled. ”Hey, you’re the new guy! I’m Sam, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.

Slade was not here to make friends but he wasn’t rude, so he shook it. ”Likewise, Sam. The name’s Slade.”

Sam nodded, letting go of his hand. ”So, you’re eating out as well huh? I heard you’re knew in town, and I know this place with great coffee, if you’re interested?”

Slade merely nodded. Yes, coffee sounded good.

\- - -

The shop was small, but it smelled great and had a welcoming feeling to it. Entering behind Sam he saw a girl at the counter smile when she saw them.

”Hello Sam! The usual?” The girl asked, smiling.

Sam chuckled, ”Yes, please.” 

The girl then turned to him, asking what he’d like. He didn’t know so he asked her to order for him. His day was probably not going to get more exciting than ordering something random for lunch.

But oh, was he in for a surprise.

\- - -

Dick saw the two men sip their coffees and walked over with their food. Sam was facing him whilst the other man sat on the opposite side, his back to Dick. He immediately noticed the white hair, which struck Dick as odd, because judging by the posture and voice, the man couldn't possibly be more than forty. Standing beside the table he turned to Sam first, serving his sandwich before turning around to face the other man, giving him his salad.

Dick had fast reflexes, but no one could blame him for not dodging this. He had just placed the salad before the man, and had looked up, smiling, saying ”I hope you enjo-” 

He couldn’t finish the sentence before he saw the man’s face take on a weird expression and barley a second later, Dick was sprayed with coffee in his face. 

”YieH!” Dick let out a strangled sound of surprise and disgust as he quickly backed away. He was soaked in coffee. The man started coughing but Dick was busy wiping the liquid from his eyes and nose.

”Oh dear, are you alright? Here, let me help- ” Sam said, trying to dry some coffee out of Dick’s hair with a napkin.

”Is everything alright?” He heard Amy ask as she hurried over with paper towels.

Slade turned slightly red, accepting some towels to clean himself where he hd gotten coffee on himself.

”Thank you” he managed. His voice was still a little choked. He was hardly ever surprised, but when he saw the waiter’s face, he choked. 

\- - -

He must be more stressed out than he thought. His thoughts had drifted to the Boy Wonder more often than not lately and Slade would lie if he said he wasn’t curios as to what Robin was doing these days. Lost in thought, he hadn’t heard the waiter come up to him with his food. That was .. unsettling. Slade always heard people coming, so either that boy walked real quiet or he had been deeper in thought than he’d realized.

The waiter had his back turned, giving Sam his meal and Slade took the opportunity to scan him over. Judging from his hight and body, he’d guess the boy was in his late teens, maybe 18 years old. He was lean but he was definitely not skinny, if his bicep holding the tray was anything to go by. Slade suspected he practiced some sport, since he was clearly fit but not bulky. 

The boy proceeded to turn to him, head looking down at the food as he placed it in front of Slade. The raven black hair fell into his face and Slade couldn’t help but be reminded of Robin. (When did that boy get inside his head?). He decided to take a rather large sip of his coffee. When the boy looked up, Slade saw a strong jaw, dark eyebrows and blue eyes. (Hm, even his face was somewhat similar to - no, stop thinking about Robin.) It wasn’t until he spoke that Slade choked on his coffee. Slade had closed his eyes, only for a moment, to enjoy the sip of coffee, when he heard Robin say ”I hope you enjo-”. He could have sworn that the voice, although kinder, was Robin’s. His realization resulted in a small gasp that lead to inhaling coffee.

The poor boy hadn’t had a chance to react before Slade had spit a mouthful of coffee in his face. He made a noise of surprise and quickly took a step back. He was bending forward slightly as he wiped his face. He watched Sam try to help the boy, - he read the name tag - Richard, and oh god it was even in his hair- 

”Sorry for the mess sir, we’ll make you a new coffee right away.” She gently took Dick’s arm and led him to the kitchen, whispering ”let’s get you cleaned up.” 

\- - -

Slade watched the girl lead Richard, who was still wiping coffee from his face, to the kitchen. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this embarrassed. Not only because he had allowed himself to be surprised, but also because he had made a fool of himself in front of his coworker, the girl and the poor waiter. The boy had never met him in his life and got spit in the face because Slade couldn’t stop thinking about Robin. But the waiter boy didn’t know that, and from his point of view, he’d just had a complete stranger spit coffee all over his face for absolutely no reason.

Quickly standing from his seat, he went to the counter. The girl and Richard were still in the kitchen. Pulling out some cash he paid and left a big tip, along with a note saying ”sorry”. 

Sam didn’t protest when Slade left and was unsure what to do. In the end he settled for eating his sandwich. After all, he had work in half an hour.


	2. once is a coincidence twice is a pattern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> I sort of have a plan for the story but we'll see it goes, I'm kind of letting it write itself. Leave a like / comment if you enjoyed and want more <3  
> Don't own it (sadly)

Amy had let Dick have the rest of the day off since his uniform had been drenched in coffee. _And spit,_ Dick thought sourly.

He got home early, around 3 pm, and headed straight for the shower. He’d changed out of his work clothes but still smelled like coffee.

He had about an hour before Roy would get back from his work and probably another hour or two before they could patrol. Their apartment was small and there really wasn’t much room to do anything else than eat and sleep. Not that they had time to do much else anyway, all they did was sleep, eat, work, patrol and repeat. If they were bored or had time over they’d eat out, catch a movie, or something else out of the apartment.

Speaking of food, he was quite hungry. He’d overslept that morning and only had time for an apple (Barbara would have his head if she knew how he was eating) and his body was looking forward to some real food. Finishing rinsing his hair he stepped out of the shower and put on some clothes before heading to the kitchen. He was going to have some cereal but they were out, and the milk had gone sour. Huh. Maybe he’d have to go shopping, but he was hungry so he’d eat first. Scanning the fridge he found eggs, whipped cream, some butter and ketchup. That was .. not a lot of options, but he could work with that. He was the Boy Wonder who broke out of a prison cell with a spoon. He should be able to make himself lunch.

He decided to try making pancakes. It was simple enough, and the ingredients were sort of correct. After mixing the eggs and whipped cream with flour, he put some butter in a pan. Pouring some of the .. _mixture_ in the pan he checked his phone, knowing it wound take a while for it to cook. He got a bit carried away rewatching the highlights of gymnastic olympics and didn’t look up before he smelled something burning. The ’pancake’ was smoking and he rushed to open the window, before trying to take the pan off the stove. But of course he had spilled some of the mixture on the stove, making the pan stick. He yanked at the pan, but it wouldn’t budge. The mixture along with heat seemed to be a secret chemical formula for super glue. He braced his feet and put more force into it, stumbling back when it finally let go. However, the danger was not over. He had been yanking the pan toward himself and when it finally let go, it came flying for his face, and he _barley_ managed to duck, the pan flying over his head.

He stayed down, trying to calm his racing heart. Well, at least notching bad had -

The sound of metal hitting asphalt rang through the room followed by a ” _Fucking hell!”_

Uh oh. Standing up and turning around, he realized the pan had gone _through_ the window. The open window. Down to the street. Dick suddenly got a mental image of himself in prison, being charged for accidentally killing someone with a burnt pancake and a pan.

Quickly rushing to the window he looked down on the street. They were a few stores up but he could clearly see two people standing right under the window.

”Shit! I’m so sorry, are you alright?!” He yelled.

One of them looked up and -

”DICK! I should have known! Who the _fuck_ else burns a pan and _throws it out the window!?_ ” Roy at him.

”It was an accident I swear! No one got hurt?” He asked, looking at the other man standing beside Roy, while feeling his face burn in shame.

It got even worse when the older man looked up, and he saw it was the man from earlier today. He had been standing behind Roy so Dick assumed he hadn’t been hit either.

”We’re fine.” The man yelled back before bending down, picking up the severely damaged pan and turning to Roy. ”You think your roommate wants this back?”

Roy snorted, taking the pan. ”I’ll take it, beat some sense into the idiot. Really sorry about the trouble.”

”It’s alright, but you should probably make sure your apartment doesn’t burn down. There is quite a bit of smoke.”

\- - -

Slade hadn’t gone back to work after lunch, instead taking a stroll in the city. It was pretty quiet since most people were at work but there were a few people scattered in stores or on the streets. He was walking along a street when the guy in front of him suddenly jumped back, bumping into him. He was about to shove the guy of off him and ask what the hell he was doing when a burning pan came crashing down. He watched it bounce before looking up, wanting to see where it came from. There was an open window a few stores up and soon a raven haired man poked his head out, his face shocked and worried.

He saw himself and the boy in front of him, his face taking on a look of horror as he yelled ”Shit! I’m so sorry, are you alright?!”

He instantly recognized the voice ( _Robin’s voice_ , the back of his mind told him. He ignored it.) and knew it was coffee boy from earlier today.

The guy in front of him looked up as well and yelled ”DICK! I should have known! Who the fuck else burns a pancake and _throws it out the window!?_ ”

The guy had said Dick, which was a common nickname for Richard, so he was sure it was the same boy. What a coincidence, meeting him twice the same day.

Little did Slade know, this was far from the last time he would run into him.

\- - -

After Dick had explained himself to Roy (begged for mercy) and promised (been threatened) to buy food and clean the house for a week, they suited up and went out for patrol. First they got some take out though, because Dick still hadn’t had any lunch.

They were sitting on a roof top, watching the city below in silence.

”You know” Roy said, looking at him ”You’re a horrible cook.”

Dick barked out a laugh ”Burning a pan, ruining half the stove and almost killing you, what gave it away?”

Roy pushed his shoulder ”Stop being a smart ass.”

Before Dick could respond there was an explosion not far from them.

They looked at each other before hurrying over to the scene, where Amy’s cafe was burning to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own this
> 
> also there will be swearing from now (can't remember if I already have) on because I just think it.. adds to the situation sometimes.
> 
> Enjoy!

The smoke was high and dark and the two teenage heros could only watch as several firemen tried to take control of the fire. Thankfully it had not spread to any of the buildings nearby and would probably be put out within the hour.

”So what are we looking at here? Arson? Revenge? Accident?” Nightwing asked as he tried to pull up security footage on his wrist computer.

”We can rule out arson, the only two people who work there are you and Amy. Besides the fact that neither of you were there, the shop closed hours ago. Revenge is possible but unlikely. Amy’s had this store for three years now and there’s never been trouble before. She’s a nice girl, doesn’t seen like the type to have these kind of enemies.” Roy hummed, looking over Dick’s shoulder.

”I agree. It’s unlikely an accident either, nothing in the store could do this much damage.” His computer blipped and a small screen with a video popped up. There could be seen three men jumping out of a car, running towards the café, when the camera suddenly cut.

Dick smirked. ”Got you.”

Roy looked up at the street. ”The car came down the 2nd street, I say we backtrack them and see where they came from, who they work for.”

Dick nodded, concentrating on replaying the short clip and zooming in on them. Even though they had only gotten a glimpse, Dick now knew more than enough. The three men were all adults, roughly 30 - 40 years old. Their clothes were plain and black, but as one of them ran his collar slipped down and the faintest trace of a tattoo could be seen. 

He closed his holo computer and turned to Roy. ”You’re right, backtracking them is a good idea. You do that while I scan the area, they may still be nearby. The bomb could have destroyed evidence or have been used as a decoy.” He looked down at the screen again and grimaced. ”They’re sloppy. I doubt these guys knew what they were doing”

Roy stood up beside Dick, taking out his bow. ”Right. I’ll head down past the library, see what I can find. Call if you find the punks, otherwise you join me.” With that he jumped off the building and was gone. Dick did the same, pulling out his escrima sticks.

Roy had been backtracking the car, which was fairly easy. They hadn't avoided security footage or taken unusual roads. He stopped at an old warehouse, where the car had clearly come from. The night was quiet and indicated no activity here whatsoever, and after a quick lap around the house to make sure nothing funny was going on, he climbed through the roof. First thing he saw was an open area in the middle where several (presumably stolen) vehicles stood. Besides the cars and motorcycle, it seemed empty. It was quite far from the city, a mostly uninhabited part of town. Taking out his bow and keeping to the shadows, he stepped further inside. He couldn’t quite pinpoint it but this place was crawling with something, he could almost smell it. 

”Nightwing, you there?” He asked, hand to his earpiece.

There was a pause before ”Nightwing here. You got something?”

”I tracked them back to an old warehouse with a few stolen cars, but something feels .. off. You should come check it out, use your tech. Unless you’ve found them already?” Even though he had made sure the place was empty, he kept his voice just above a whisper. 

”Nothing.” He sighed. ”I’ll be there shortly, Nightwing out.”

Roy stayed in place, still feeling uneasy about this. The explosion and three men coming from this place, it just didn’t add up. What was the motive, why drive to the city? Why blow up Amy’s? There had to be a bigger picture.

An abandoned warehouse, filled with stolen vehicles. These cars were expensive and in good shape, so either they were newly stolen or whoever owned them were planning on selling them soon. It was a good spot for something like that, big warehouse, easy to find but hidden enough not to draw attention to itself. Nice place to have an auction for cars. Although surely it would be noticed if several (presumably rich) people drove to this dump. There would need to be a distraction of sorts.

Roy’s eyes widened. The fire, the men, this was - 

Just then the doors to the warehouse flew open and Roy pressed himself as far into the shadows as he could.

Eight people dressed in nice suits, along with at least 20 bodyguards walked in. The man at the front was clearly the seller, if his dramatic body language was anything to go by. Without making a sound he crept closer to hear better.

”Here we are, dear friends, here we are!” He spun around to face the others. ”Today we have really nice offers, feel free to have a look!”

He recognized this man. Average height, greasy blond hair and a crooked smile. It was Theo Sal, a known seller in the criminal society here in Jump. Theo usually felt with petty theft but seemed to have gotten his hands on something better this time, and was ready to make some good money out of it.

As the people in suits chatted among themselves they walked towards the cars. Theo snapped his fingers at the guards and jerked his head to the side, making them spred out along the walls of the warehouse. From where Roy was sitting there was no way out and although he was skilled, he couldn’t take out 20 armed bodyguards alone. 

He pressed his earpiece ”Warehouse, car auction, 20 guards, 8 buyers.”

A second later, ”Understood. Be there in three.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on making more chapters but it kind of just happened, but I had no plan or idea where to go with it. I've been thinking for a long time now and I think(hope) I can make it work without being a mess, but I guess time will tell. 
> 
> Also I'm reaaaally new to writing these characters, HOPE they're not way to ooc.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> Ok so I do have a plan for this story (kinda haha) but I'm honestly just playing around because it's fun. Also, I'm going to completely twist the timeline in future chapters, but I'll explain it when we come to that.  
> disclaimer: imaging what I could do if I owned batman. Too bad I don't
> 
> enjoy! :)

Nightwing was .. unsure about this. It was never a good sign when the richer part of town got involved in even the smallest illegal business. It usually got worse after the first time, fast. Jump wasn’t another city he wanted corrupt, Gotham was bad enough.

The people in Jump were not like in Gotham. Not as corrupt or cold hearted. That lead to Dick suspecting an outsider had made an entrance and proposed the sale. He didn’t appreciate outsiders doing business in his city. Roy had said there were about twenty guards, so that is one paranoid seller, or one that really doesn’t want to be disturbed. Sound’s like someone who isn’t staying in town for long.

He could see the warehouse up ahead and slowed down, pulling up a map of the place to check entrances and possible exits. Roy must have his hands tied in there. There wasn’t much Nightwing could do either, the best they could do was take note and identify the people there and hopefully take down the seller. He was, after all, the cause of this problem. 

”Red Arrow, you okay?” He whispered.

”Yeah” Roy huffed silently. ”Can you get a clear view of the buyers? I can’t risk getting closer and the -” The line went dead as Roy was interrupted by a series of gunshots.

”Red?” Dick asked, face white. When he got no response he sprung into action. Having quickly entered through the top left window he took in the scene, scanning for Roy. He was met with chaos. At some point a smoke bomb had been thrown, making it hard to get a good view of where everyone was. He could hear them though. There was yelling and people pushing each other, scrambling to get out of there. He jumped down among them, while still staying low, not wanting to get shot. He was looking for any signs of blood or a body. He did eventually find blood, although not nearly enough to have killed someone. It’d probably only graced a limb. At this point most of the people had left the scene completely. No point going after them. Instead he bent down and took a sample of the blood. If he had to guess the victim was the seller. Maybe someone else in this city didn’t appreciate uninvited criminals here either.

Putting the sample in his belt for safety he turned around again and smiled. 

”Couldn’t wait for me, eh Red?”

There was no response and he took a step toward the shadows. 

He hesitated and called again. He tested the earpiece but heard nothing, indication Roy’s earpiece was broken or destroyed. ”Red?!” He yelled. He was met with silence.

Dick was alone in the warehouse.

————

Roy stayed in the shadows. Nightwing had said ETA three minutes, and that shouldn’t be a problem, seeing as the byers just got here. He knew there was no point in him and Dick trying to fight all of these guys, that would just cause panic and get them paranoid in the future. If there was one thing Roy appreciated it was when criminals made his job easy by being arrogant and sloppy. 

All the heroes had to do was identify these guys and maybe see if they could dig up some more dirt on them before turning them in. He was, however, in a bad position. He was sitting pretty high up, and if he stood he would his his head on the roof. 

He heard Nightwing announce his arrival by asking if he was ok. 

”Yeah” he huffed. He was just about to explain that he couldn’t get a proper view when he saw something reflect of a metal surface opposite him. From the window across from him he saw a gun point through, down at the people below. He reacted on instinct and threw a smoke pellet, hoping to make the shooter hesitate or miss. No such luck. Gunshots rang out and he could hear a scream down below. At least that meant it wasn’t a headshot. The killer must have seen where the smoke pellet was thrown from, because Roy had to dive out of the day to avoid getting shot himself. Who was this person? Who was he targeting? 

The killer seemed to realize he would no longer be able to take out the singe target because of the panic and smoke filled room. That was apparently enough for the killer to withdraw. Too bad Roy wasn’t going to let that happen. He jumped across and managed to squeeze out the window just in time to see a man jumping of the warehouse. He winced as his earpiece gave a loud static noise and ripped it out his ear, leaving it on the rooftop as he chased after the man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short chapter but I wanted to post so here we are. I do have many ideas for this but I'm trying to write it 'slow' so that you can get enough background info and a better feeling of how the characters interact. 
> 
> kudos and comments make my day <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter!

This man was something else. He was unnaturally fast, but Roy didn’t peg him as a meta. People with powers were usually loud, arrogant and flashy, eager to show they were special and strong. This guy was silent, smart. It was like chasing a shadow.

Maybe that’s why Roy was so determined to catch up with him. Finally, there was a challenge, something new. Sure, Roy met new people everyday, but to meet someone as experienced and skilled as the man he was pursuing was unusual. Jump didn’t have as many theme villains as Gotham but it still had problems. Problems, that were usually loud, arrogant and flashy.

The man had leapt across several rooftops and Roy was starting to have trouble keeping up. The man had to know he was being followed and was probably just trying to shake him off, or make Roy tired so it’d be a quick takedown if a fight went down. That was another peculiar thing, that the man escaped the scene rather than to stay and fight. Maybe he knew he couldn’t win (which Roy highly doubted) or he wanted to stay out of a hero’s radar. Now that, was a much more interesting possibility. He seemed like the type of bad guy who _didn’t_ tell the hero his entire secret plan. But then again, who would he tell? This guy didn’t want to be seen, and Roy didn’t recognize him (to be fair he had only seen his shadow, but if you saw Batman’s shadow you’d know who it was.)

Roy hadn’t seen his face or body, hadn’t heard his voice or even gotten close enough to smell him. He knew nothing. The man must know this, to deliberately have kept out of sight. Knowledge is power and right now, the man had an advantage. Still, Roy knew he existed now and he would find out who he was.

But if he kept mindlessly chasing the guy, that day wouldn’t be today. Roy wasn’t dumb. He had years of experience and knew to stop when he was not in control of the situation or in a good position. Because of that, and that he was slightly out of breath, he stopped on a rather large rooftop and addressed the man who had landed on the upcoming roof.

”Hey!” Roy yelled, making sure his voice was strong. ”How about we quit this little game, I’m sure neither of us have the time for this.”

The man stopped, but stayed in the shadows, so Roy couldn’t see anything other than his boots.

What must have been a voice modifier said ”You’re green Arrow’s sidekick. I have no quarrel with him.”

Roy snapped, out of habit. ”I’m not his sidekick!”

Immediately after, he fought down a slight blush. Damn it, he wasn’t a kid, he shouldn’t lose his temper that easily. Besides, he had not chased this criminal all over the city to not be taken seriously. 

He took a breath to calm himself before speaking in a calmer tone.

”And I don’t care about your relation to him. In fact, you should be more worried about me.”

Roy could feel how the man looked him over. ”I don’t kill kids.”

”I’m not a kid.” Roy took a step forward. ”And you won’t be killing anybody when I’m done with you.” As he said this he reached for an arrow and fired a warning shot that landed just in front of the man.

The shadow took a step forward. ”But for you, I’ll make an exception.” He drew his katana and jumped across the gap between the roofs, landing a few meters from Roy.

— — —

Deathstroke wasn’t _actually_ going to kill him. It was more of a threat, to see how the boy would react. Had he been a real problem or jeopardized his business, Slade had no problem taking a limb off, but he didn’t kill unless he had to. That might sound rich coming from a mercenary, but while he could enjoy killing, he didn’t do it for fun. Besides, he had nothing against this boy and since he didn’t recognize the black and orange, Slade supposed it was fair to say that the kid had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Slade had only stayed to teach the boy a lesson. He’d make sure their first meeting would be remembered, he might toy around a bit first though, see what the kid is capable of. In the end he would end up hurting the kid or scaring him enough that he’d back off and go back to wherever he came from, because Slade didn’t like when people stuck their nose into his business. As a professional mercenary he had three rules when it came to outsiders or heroes.

Number one, don’t follow me.

The kid had followed him for a good while before realizing it was futile.

That leads us on to rule two.

Don’t fight me.

The ’warning shot’ was a waste of arrows, and a weak display of skills. It was apparent the boy was trained and experienced, but he had never fought with someone like Slade before.

Final rule.

Don’t interrupt my jobs.

The kid had not only sabotaged the kill, he had given the victim an opportunity to escape and in the process alert him that he was in danger.

Make no mistake, if Slade had wanted this kid dead, the body would already have been disposed of. However, there was something holding him back. Curiosity, amusement, boredom, call it what you want. He was interested. It had been years since he messed around with the Titans and this reminded him of the good days where life was a little more exciting, a little less grey. He still lived with Wintergreen, an old friend, like he had for many years, but he didn’t get much social interaction other than that. When he did meet people it was to receive payment or to kill them. His civilian Id, Slade Wilson, did have a couple of friends, but he hadn’t talked to them for a long time and besides, they were all well over 70 by now. Slade himself had also been born over 70 years ago but physically, he wasn’t a day over 30. Granted, he had white hair, but he’d had that ever since the experiment, so it had nothing o do with age. It even worked in his favor most of the time, as some people underestimated him because they assumed he was old.

It had been a good while since he fought anybody other than his Sladebots that he trained with. They weren’t actually called that but Robin had used it and it caught on.

And much like Robin, this boy was determined. He started off trying to attack, but quickly had to use all his skills just to dodge the kicks and punches. And the sword.

———

Roy needed to get further away. He couldn’t properly use his bow in close combat and he had no chance to attack since the man took every opportunity to cut him open. He’d just barley ducked down, out of the way of the katana, when he saw an opening. He was crunched over, the man standing closely in front of him, and his arms mid- swipe. Roy quickly grabbed an explosive arrow and threw it to the ground right under them. It was dangerous since he was very exposed to the explosion, but right now he needed to take the risk.

The explosion itself did little to the man, but the surprise gave Roy a few blessed seconds to back up, not too hurt by the blast. His situation wasn’t looking that good. He couldn’t take this man down on his own, but he couldn’t tell Nightwing where he was since his comm was broken, but he couldn’t let the man get away.

He couldn’t fight, he couldn’t run. Switching up he game, he took a page out of his partners book. Distract.

”Haven’t seen you around here before.” He said, and made sure to keep a distance. ”You took up a new hobby when you retired, old man?”

The man looked at him, but there was no other emotion. Roy couldn’t see his face but he could tell by the body language. He’d have to do better. If he would have any chance to win, he needed to get the man distracted, and in this case, that meant angry. He needed to contact Nightwing too. Dick would be angry with him for being so hot headed, jumping into a fight like this. He could almost hear him yelling already. Roy needed to get out of this mess, take some time and do thorough research on the man and then come back, kick ass. But for now, alert Nightwing, get away.

He couldn’t make his comments personal since he didn’t know the man, and had to settle for insulting his appearance instead.

”What happened to your eye?” He quickly pulled out two explosive arrows and pointed them at the man, letting one go. The man just stepped to the side, but in that time Roy had fired the other one up into the sky, making sure it was on the man’s left side, creating a small firework. He really hoped Dick had seen that.

The man seemed annoyed now, wanting to end this, as he stalked towards him. Roy backed up again.

”I presume you lost a fight?” He pulled up his bow but it was kicked out of his hand, so Roy fell into a fighting stance. _Anytime now, Nightwing_ , he thought, as he took a punch to the stomach.

He kicked out his leg but the man sidestepped and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him completely off balance. Landing on his back, he quickly pushed up his hand to stop the foot that was trying to crush his ribcage. ”It’s alright, I’m not judging you.” He pulled a small knife from his arm and stabbed into the ankle, and coughed as the presumed lessened.

Instead, he felt a hand around his throat, lifting him up until he was barley touching the roof with his toes. Still, he choked out. ” We all have our _eyes and lows_.”

And finally, he heard the familiar clink of metal rolling, before the roof erupted in smoke. The grip on his neck was still tight and he was running out of air. He needed to stay conscious, Dick couldn’t beat this man on his own either. To his surprise, the man wasn’t interested in him at all, he had his head slightly to the side, as if he was listening.

Shit, Dick doesn’t have a chance if he knows where the attack will come from. So Roy, the _hero_ he was, sacrificed all dignity and self-respect he had right then and there, when he started gurgling, choking, coughing, any noice he could possibly make, to cover for Dick. It seemed to work, because soon the hand let go of his throat. He tumbled to the ground, quickly rolling away and getting in a fighting stance (while trying to breathe), but the man’s focus was not on him. He had drawn his sword again, looking out into the smoke for the newcomer.

The smoke was incredibly thick, and Roy took advantage to disappear from the man’s view. Something gently pulled on his arm and he saw Dick standing beside him, wide eyes and nodding his head to the side in _let’s get out of here._

Roy didn’t need to be told twice. Dick took an explosive from his belt and threw it into the smoke, before they beelined off the roof, feeling the heat of the explosion lick their backs. Right now, neither of them were focused on anything else than getting away. They headed to the city, since there was lesser chance the man would follow them to a crowded place.

Once they felt safe enough, they stopped, both panting. Dick turned to him, furious.

”What were you thinking!”

”I know you’re mad, okey?”

”How _stupid_ could you be?!”

Roy held up his hands ”Why are you freaking out? I’m fine!”

Dick stood up. ”No, you’re not!” He gestured to him ”You’re insane! What were you doing, following him? You could have died! We’re lucky he let us go!”

”Him? You mean you know who it is?”

”You mean you don’t?” Dick pulled a hand over his face, trying to collect himself. ”That was Deathstroke the Terminator.”

” _Deathstroke the Ter-_ ” Roy choked out, eyes wide. ”He hasn’t been seen for years!”

”And you manage to run into him.” A sigh. ”Lucky us.”


End file.
